How Todd Cantwell can flourish in the Carrow Road spotlight left by Emi Buendia

Despite winning promotion to the Premier League in spectacular fashion, the sale of Emi Buendia left a sour taste in the mouths of many Norwich City supporters.

Granted, nobody could begrudge him for moving on from the club after three years of service. After all, his performances played a huge part in helping the club return to the top flight, having registered 15 goals and 16 assists in 39 Championship games last season. But to lose a player of his quality will undoubtedly sting for quite a long time.

Despite Teemu Pukki’s incredible goalscoring form, Norwich always looked for their Argentineanian superstar on the right wing. He took the spotlight at Carrow Road, and shone on a staggeringly consistent basis. The Canaries are now looking for someone to fill that void.

The signing of Milot Rashica from Werder Bremen goes a long way in doing that. The Kosovo international offers that same energy in wide areas as Buendia did, while also having the versatility to play anywhere in attack. However, his stats last season were fairly underwhelming, although this may be as a result of playing for a side that were relegated from the Bundesliga.

Perhaps Norwich don’t need to look to the transfer market to find a replacement for Buendia. This could be Todd Cantwell’s chance to become the star man at Carrow Road.

The 23-year-old came through the club’s academy, breaking into the senior team in 2018. He was soon loaned out to Dutch side Fortuna Sittard, but managed to become a key player upon his return to Norfolk later that year. He was a regular in Norwich’s last Premier League season in 2019/20, scoring six goals and assisting two as they suffered an immediate return back to the Championship.

Manager Daniel Farke was impressed by his performances in the top flight, but saw him as a raw talent. That soon changed in the 2020/21 season, when he scored six and assisted six as the Canaries went on to seal their second Championship title in three years.

Cantwell wasn’t in the limelight in Norwich’s last top flight campaign. This season, he will be.

He’ll be tasked with filling the void left by Buendia, including his 31 goal contributions from last season. While he won’t be expected to match the Argentine’s numbers, he will be expected to take a significant portion of that burden.

Although Tuesday night’s 5-0 friendly win against Gillingham didn’t provide an accurate representation of what Farke’s side will face next season, it did give Cantwell a chance to show the fans that he’s capable of stepping up to become the new poster boy of the club.

While the 24-year-old failed to score against the League One side, he registered an outrageous bicycle-kick assist for Adam Idah in the latter stages of the first half. He later delivered a pinpoint free-kick for Jacob Sørensen to head home the Canaries fifth goal of the evening.

Statistically speaking, Cantwell’s performance was superb. However, there was a noticeable difference in this Norwich side compared to that of last season that makes it even more impressive.

The Canaries relied heavily on Buendia last season, and whenever one of his teammates was on the ball, they’d always be looking to make a pass to him in order to bring him into the game. Rather than looking lost in his absence, they now look to Cantwell to make the magic happen.

That’s a huge statement of his place in the team, both in the dressing room and on the pitch. While Farke will be keen for his side not to rely too heavily on the Dereham-born winger, he’ll be very happy to see how he’s matured since Buendia’s departure.

Of course, these top-class performances will come with inevitable interest from top teams. Aston Villa have reportedly been interested in reuniting him with Buendia at Villa Park, although this looks increasingly unlikely now Dean Smith’s side have signed Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen. However, Jack Grealish’s potential departure to Man City could see their interest rekindled in the coming weeks.

But Norwich have no obligation to sell Cantwell this summer, and the likelihood of him leaving Carrow Road is incredibly slim. If he can fill the void left by Buendia, then the Canaries have a very good chance of retaining their Premier League status for the first time since 2013.

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